Distorted Reflections
by Phoenixfire1389
Summary: School. Homework. Things with yellow eyes that go bump in the night. FE7 in a modern setting. AU, although that really goes without saying.
1. Before First Bell

Jesus, this was hard to write. I kept slipping out of past and into present tense, something I haven't had this much trouble with since I was a freshman. So if you find places where the tenses don't match… please remember that I beta my own work, and sometimes when you're a writer you add things in that aren't really there, because that's the way it is in your head. At least… I do… Oh well, enjoy.

Disclaimer: Don't own Fire Emblem. Just wish I did.

Warning: Yes, this is a HIGH SCHOOL fic. One that follows the game's plotline, somewhat. I don't know why I wrote it, really, it's just a thought that won't leave me alone. Um... since this does follow the game's plotline (loosely), spoiler warnings for everything, including Ninian and Nils' past

Parings: Eliwood/Ninian, Nino/Jaffar. Other parings will definately appear, I just don't feel like tying myself down to them, in case I change my mind. So I MAY listen to you if you (nicely!) ask for a certain pairing.

And before you ask, yeah, Nadia's the tactician. Now, on with…

Distorted Reflections

* * *

Prologue: Before First Bell

* * *

She was totally comfortable. 

…_beep…_

_...smack…_

She didn't want to move.

…_beep, beep…_

…_smack…_

She could stay in bed forever…

…_beep, beep, be-…_

…_smack…_

After all, it was…

"MONDAY!" Lyn gasped, sitting bolt upright. Monday. Schoolday. And she was now running…

She peeked at her battered digital alarm clock. Fifteen minutes late. Beautiful.

"Okay, I really need a new alarm clock," Lyn groaned as she pulled a dark blue, v-necked t-shirt out of her closet. "Or, I could stop staying up so late talking to Florina." The shirt wasn't one of her favorites, but it would have to do, she was running late. With lightning speed that belied her tiredness, she pulled on the shirt, shoved herself into a pair of black jeans, and searched madly through the junk on her dresser before she found a hair tie to pull back her long green hair. Then she jammed all her homework into her black backpack and slung the thing on her shoulder, narrowly missing knocking over her bedside lamp for the third time since the school year had started.

"Bye Mom, bye Dad," she said to the picture that sat on her nightstand. It showed a woman with pale blonde hair and kind green eyes and a man with dark green hair and warm dark brown eyes. Standing between them was a ten-year-old Lyn.

Lyn dashed downstairs and snagged a pack of pop tarts out of the pantry before running out the back door. Somehow, by the grace of Father Sky and Mother Earth, she hadn't run into any of the various people who worked for her wealthy grandfather. No one was going to badger her about acting like a 'proper lady' this morning. Thank the gods.

She ran to the corner of the street that she lived on, jamming her breakfast into her mouth in a most undignified manner. She pictured the expressions of the household staff and laughed around her breakfast.

Ever since her parents had been murdered by bandits, she had lived with her grandfather. Well, ever since they had sorted out the whole incident with her great uncle trying to steal her grandfather's fortune by killing both her and her grandfather, she had lived with her grandfather. And she loved her grandfather, Hausen Caelin. It was just everyone else in there that drove her to the brink of insanity. Instead of looking down on her because she was half-Sacean, they seemed to be determined to make her into a proper young lady despite the fact that she had grown up in a ger.

Had she mentioned that their idea of 'proper' and her idea of 'boring' were almost the same thing?

Leaning against the pole of the stop sign, her nose buried in a book, stood an unremarkable young woman with flat, brown hair that fell to her shoulders, slightly tanned skin, and dark eyes. She was wearing a wine-colored blouse, dark blue jeans, and a dark green windbreaker to fend off the early autumn chill. It wasn't all that cold, really, but then the brunette became cold easily.

She looked up, her dark eyes locking on to Lyn's viridian ones. "Lyn, did you forget what yesterday was?"

Lyn blinked. "Yesterday was Sunday, Nadia. What's so special about Sunday? I don't go to church, after all…"

"Lyn," Nadia said patiently. "Yesterday was Daylight Savings time. You know, the whole 'Spring forward, Fall back' thing?"

"Right. Again… oh, you're not telling me…"

"Congratulations, Lyn!" the onetime tactician said cheerily. "It's six o'clock. The bus won't be here for another forty-five minutes."

Lyn blinked.

"It's six o'clock?"

"Yes."

"You mean, I could have eaten a warm breakfast?"

"Definitely."

"And slept for another half an hour?"

Nadia blinked. "Um… if you take your shower at night… which you probably do, with that long hair of yours…"

Lyn blinked again. "I'm going back to bed." She then walked over to the bench, tossed Nadia's backpack off, curled up, and tried to do so. Nadia only rolled her eyes. Lyn had never been a morning person unless necessary. "Say, Nadia."

"Yes?"

"Why are you here so early?"

"I'm always this early."

"What do you do with all that spare time?"

"I read. Or play my handheld games. I found this really neat one, it's called The Legend of Zelda…"

"Didn't want to hear about it," Lyn grumbled, throwing an arm over her eyes. She did not bother to question her friend's idiosyncrasies further, Nadia just liked being strange. Today was going to be a very long day…

* * *

Jaffar was filthy, covered in the dried blood of his latest assignment: polishing off more people who Sonia wanted dead. When _wasn't _he killing people that Sonia wanted dead? 

He blinked, and shook his head. Three months ago, he wouldn't have been thinking about these things. Of course, three months ago, he hadn't known _her, _either…

Automatically, his dark eyes, sought the balcony of the Reed Manor that jutted out of the wall, _her _balcony. He was unsurprised to find a green-haired girl standing there looking for him, her blue eyes clouded with worry. He knew they were, even if he couldn't see them…

He turned away from the window. He didn't understand why he cared all of a sudden, but he knew it was wrong. Her adoptive brothers doted on her, and had threatened to eviscerate any male who came close to her. He should stay away too. She would be sad to see him fight her brothers. And that bothered him. Of course, so did the fact that she had probably stayed up all three nights that he had been away on assignment waiting for him with that same sad expression that he knew she was wearing right now…

"You should be in bed, Nino," he said solemnly. "Your first day of school starts today. You're going to fall asleep in class." He blinked. He was on the balcony. When the _hell _had he climbed up on the balcony?

Sorrow turned to joy in those big blue eyes, and she smiled that enormous smile of hers at him "Jaffar, you're okay!" she cried, and hugged him so hard that he almost lost his balance. He caught himself on the brick, though, and hugged her back with one arm. Not a thought for the blood, his daggers, not a hesitation to hug him. She seemed so innocent, Nino did. But it was times like this that he remembered that Sonia was her mother. Or at least the person who had raised her. Could someone like Sonia even _have _children?

It wasn't his place to think on these things.

But when it involved Nino, he just couldn't seem to stop…

He stayed a little longer, they exchanged some words. Mostly, Nino talked about her magic lessons, and how her mother was still disappointed in her. Jaffar couldn't understand that. The child was fourteen, and could already use anima spells of the third rank. Most mages her age were still barely able to get the sixth rank spells to work reliably. Nino was doing very well. Why couldn't Sonia see that?

And why was he getting angry again?

"I think you're doing a good job," Jaffar said awkwardly. "And I think that the people at your school will say so as well." _Or I will make them say so. _The assassin blinked in confusion. Now where on earth had _that _come from?

Nino smiles through her tears. "Thanks, Jaffar. You're the best friend I've ever had!" She leaned over and kissed his cheek, and Jaffar felt… something. What?

Maybe he can get Legault to tell him what these… emotions… mean. As long as he didn't bring up Nino. Something in the back of his head thought that that would be tantamount to asking the Reed brothers for advice, and he knew that would wind up in all likelihood with him dead and them dying. Even the Angel of Death is no match for two of the other Four Fangs at once.

And the thought of dying bothered him, because it would make Nino cry.

"I must leave. You need to prepare for school." The light was the gray of pre-dawn, but people will start to rise soon, and he must not be seen.

"And you need to change your clothes," she reminded him. "Most people take exception to seeing a tall, broody guy covered in dried blood."

"I'll see to it." the corners of his lips twitch, and Nino looks at him with a shocked expression.

"Um… Jaffar? Did you just… smile?"

* * *

And somewhere nearby, a camera went off. "Aaah… nothing like gathering some blackmail on the morning paper run," Farina sighed contentedly, lofting a newspaper over the gates to the Reed Manor and pedaling away on her shiny new bicycle.

* * *

"_Oracle of the Ice…"_

_Golden eyes leering at her in the darkness._

"_Child of Sacrilege…"_

_Pale hands clawing at her dress, dragging her brother away from her…_

"_Daughter of… Destiny…"_

_Tainted laughter. The blazing sword, coming down on her, and that hateful, hateful laughter…_

"_Lightbringer."_

_A child in her arms. Tufts of red hair, large and clear blue eyes, wrapped lovingly in a soft white blanket. He looks just like his father…._

"_Mama," says the baby in her arms. "It's time to wake up, Mama."

* * *

_

A pale, slender hand slammed down on the battered, second hand alarm clock with a force somewhat surprising from the fragile-looking, milky appendage that appears as if it has never done a day's hard work in its life. With its work done, it snaked back under the lump of cheap blankets. A bird that hasn't flown south for the winter yet chirruped cheerily at the lump. The sheets are thrown off with a muffled groan of aggravation, and reveal a young woman with teal hair and startling crimson eyes. She snatched up the alarm clock and drew it closer so that she could make out the time…

The hour hand was pointing at the six, and the minute hand was pointing at the three, while the bright red second hand moved methodically around the clock's face.

Really, she'd never liked clocks.

"That was the strangest dream I've ever had," Ninian sighed, rolling out of bed. She still had to wake up Nils. She should tell her brother about the dream, whenever she has one, it usually means that they've been found, but…

She doesn't want to leave here, not yet. She doesn't want to leave her friends…

* * *

Ephidel grimaced at the gray dawn out of the tinted limousine window. 

"Drop me here," he said to the driver, an under-morph who exists only to follow commands. Things were going quite well in this lazy little corner of Elibe. Now, all he had to do to finish his part was…

Masquerade as a high school student. Something he had no desire to do whatsoever. Not that he had a choice in the matter, any more than any morph did after the master had spoken. Simply because he was more advanced than his brethren didn't change that fact.

He looked balefully at the plain brick building. Perhaps he would find something here that would make the trip worthwhile.

Perhaps…

* * *

Feed me? 


	2. First Period: Six days to Halloween

Chapter One: First Period – Six days to Halloween

"Ungh," Lyn groaned, banging her head lightly on the desk. She did not want to be here. Did anyone really want to be in school after the novelty of it wore off sometime in the third week of September?

Not to mention that her first period was Science… with Canas. Even though Canas himself was actually a very good teacher and very interested in his subject, Lyn herself couldn't care less about Physics, especially when someone mage in the class asked a question about the application of physics to magic, and sent Canas off onto a long and utterly confusing tangent. On mornings when she was especially tired (like today) she found staying awake in his class a trial. So she prayed to all the gods of her people that Erk would stay quiet today, or, better yet, that he had been moved up to AP Physics and Magiology, which was where he was supposed to be. Damn guidance councilors messing up everyone's schedules and then being 'too busy' to fix the problems…

It wasn't that she hated Erk, in fact, even though he wasn't the most talkative guy in the world, she rather enjoyed his company, and he had been one of the people who had helped her during the… incident last summer. But he was the person most likely to ask questions, and Canas was easier, much easier to listen to when he was focused. She noticed that his desk was empty and perked up a little.

Serra was nattering away to Rebecca, mourning the fact that her 'darling Erky' wasn't here yet. Lyn winced, and tried to block the cleric out. It was too early to listen to one of Serra's tirades. The others were people whom she knew by appearance and not by name, and their conversations held no interest for her. She checked the clock. Three minutes before the late bell rang. Odd, Florina was usually here by now, and she hadn't sounded sick on the phone the night before…

The orchid-haired young woman scuttled into the room, ducking into the seat next to Lyn, shaking ever-so-slightly. Lyn blinked. Florina was often shy and easily startled, but very rarely was she truly _frightened_. And right now she was clearly afraid of something.

"Florina? Is something bothering you?" Lyn asked, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. Florina flinched slightly at the sudden contact, something she hadn't done in _years._ "Florina? Please, tell me what's got you frightened so badly."

"I…I-It's silly…" she muttered, blushing.

"Not if it has you this scared!" Lyn said angrily, wishing that Nadia was here for added encouragement. But no, she only had two classes with her friend: gym and Language Arts. And lunch, although that didn't really count.

"W-well… I was walking to class, minding my own business, when a boy I've never seen before pulled me aside and started asking for directions. I think he's new. H-he didn't bother me or anything, but… Lyn, there was something _wrong _about him. He was just… eerie… oh, I can't explain it, I must sound like such a coward…"

"Hey, it's okay Florina. If you say that there's something wrong with this guy, then I believe you." Although Florina was a little nervous around _all _men, the ones who really spooked her were either exceptionally nasty or perverts like Sain. So, if this person was frightening Florina without being overtly threatening…_ she may not be able to actually _sense _danger like Ninian and her brother can, but she's a surprisingly good barometer for picking out trouble. _"Why don't you tell me what he looks like, so I can be on the lookout for him in the future?"

"Um… he's actually kind of cute, in a dark way. Wavy black hair, tied back in a ponytail, maybe down to his shoulders, dressed in black _everything_, really pale… and his eyes were _gold, _Lyn. He reminded me of… of a fox, or a wolf…" she laughed nervously. "Ahah… I'm being stupid."

"Florina, you're actually being helpful. Stop being so negative about yourself all the time," Lyn sighed. "Truth be told, this guy _does _sound creepy. Like Karel." She shuddered. He was knew what he was talking about, which she had always liked in a teacher, and he wouldn't be so bad if he would stop staring at her during weapons practice… "If we're lucky, we don't have any classes with him."

"We probably won't," Florina said, calming down visibly. "He's a senior."

"Oh, _is _he now…" a somewhat evil grin spread across Lyn's face. "Then let us offer a silent prayer that he ends up in pre-Calc this period."

"You mean… Miss Veinian's pre-Calculus? With Farina, and Raven, and all the others?"

Lyn smiled even wider. "For bothering you, he deserves it."

* * *

Ephidel looked at his new class, his scrutiny falling in particular on one girl with flat, brown hair and dark eyes filled with boredom. At least, they were filled with boredom until they brushed upon him, and then they lit…

And only the fact that his emotions were much weaker than a human's kept him from giving in and actually registering surprise. He recognized the human female, even though the last time he had seen her, her hair had been the color of straw, not brown, and she had been less than six years old. Thankfully, when he didn't show signs of recognizing her, she turned her attention back to the window, her look of confusion and speculation fading back to boredom. He would have to be careful to spend as little actual time around that one as possible, if she remembered when she had seen him last, there would be no small amount of trouble. And even though she had been at an age where most adults think that children are too stupid to understand 'adult' things, that child had been perfectly aware of what was going on around her. Unsurprising, really, considering who her father was.

A boy with red-brown hair glared at him for a moment, then passed him over with something akin to contempt. The blonde-haired girl sitting next to him elbowed him in the ribs, and made a protest about being nicer to new people.

"I know, Lucius, I know…" The redhead replied, in a tone that said that they'd had this conversation several times before.

_Lucius? _That was a man's name! And she…

Come to think of it, 'her' chest was completely flat. And although 'she' had one of the most feminine faces Ephidel had ever _seen_… well, some people were born unlucky. _Although, he would really look less like a woman if he would just cut his hair. Regardless, it would be highly amusing to have this boy meet Sonia. I wonder how that spoiled witch would react to encountering a man who is more beautiful than she will ever be?_

He had more important things to think about…

"Why, hello. You're certainly a new face around here." He started and turned to see a blue-haired young woman smiling at him. "The desk next to mine is empty. Why don't you sit there?" she asked seemingly innocently. Ephidel had a sneaking suspicion that this was anything but innocent, and it certainly wouldn't be the first time a woman (or even a man) had tried to seduce him. However, periodically he didn't mind, the girl was certainly attractive… and he was almost as bored as the young woman staring out the window, the one who was pretending to be a brunette. "I'm Farina, by the way. What's your name?"

"Ephidel." She nodded, clearly content to simply observe for the moment, waiting for the best way to get… whatever she was after. Sex? Money?

Probably money. She didn't act like a woman who recklessly threw herself at an attractive stranger.

"Ah, since I'm new around here," he said, trying to act the part of a simple high school senior, "Could you tell me who that girl by the window is?"

"Who, you mean Nadia? She's a junior, one of my kid sister Florina's friends. Pretty much keeps to herself most of the time, although she's scarily intelligent when she feel like proving it. Why? If you're interested in her, you're out of luck. She doesn't seem to show any interest in anyone, boy or girl." The way she raised her eyebrow left him with no illusions about how she meant 'interested'.

"No, I'm not… interested… in her. It's just, she reminded me of a girl I saw once, a blonde girl… can't remember her name at the moment, it was a long time ago."

The brunette sitting by the window jerked slightly. So, not only was she not as oblivious as she was pretending to be, she also had good enough hearing to listen to their conversation, even though she was on the other side of the room, and neither of them were speaking very loudly. _Definitely _someone to watch out for. Maybe, if she thought that he didn't remember her yet, and she was doing what he thought she was doing, she would leave him alone. If she had run away from her father, she would probably be doing everything in her power to avoid drawing his eyes.

Risky gamble. But better than having her spend long hours staring at him until she remembered where, why, and when she had seen him last.

"If you say so…" she didn't look entirely convinced, but took another look at Nadia, who was about as plain as plain could get, and accepted his answer. "So, where did you live before you came here to Lyc-"

Ephidel stopped listening to the teen at the moment, because his eyes were glued on the couple that had entered the door, a sandy-haired boy with laughing light brown eyes, and a redhead with a beauty mark on her chin. And, for the first time in a long time, he felt true shock.

Of all the things he had expected to find in this school, one of his actual contacts in his very first class, also posing as a student, was an unexpected and welcome surprise.

* * *

Leila blinked. She knew who she was looking at, but had never once seen so much of his face before. And in her class! If asked, she could not have picked a less likely place to find Ephidel. Next thing, her employer would come waltzing in wearing a pink dress, with bows in his hair…

She actually laughed out loud. Picturing Lord Urther, with big pink bows and his battle scars… it was just too funny.

"Something wrong?" her fiancé, Matthew, asked softly. He was too good not to miss the semi-hysterical note in her laughter.

"My job is sitting next to Farina," she replied under her breath, keeping her smile plastered on her face.

And it was hard, very hard. Ephidel was not stupid, not by any means, and Brendan Reed had just moved his family here from Bern, to 'give them a taste of other cultures'. Feh.

Matthew laughed, as if she had made a joke, and his expression also remained light and carefree, but he squeezed her hand under the desks sympathetically. They had both been doing what they were doing long enough to know that everything could blow up in Leila's face very, very easily.

"Good Morning, students, this is Principal Marcus with your morning announcements. First of all, I would like to remind you all that there is a ten o'clock curfew in effect on Halloween Night, and what the rest of you hooligans like to call 'Mischief Night.' We will NOT be having a repeat of last year's incident, or I will personally make sure that the entire senior class is forced to help clean up the mess."

Matthew and Leila grinned at Nadia, and she smiled back. Between the three of them, they had planned, coordinated, and executed that little plan… with carefully chosen helpers. To this day, no one knew exactly who had participated, although everyone was suspicious.

"Furthermore, there will be a school dance on Halloween Night, should you wish to attend. Donations will be five dollars, and will go to…"

* * *

Ninian tried to block out the teacher and take notes at the same time, something that never worked very well for her in practically. The result being, she heard more and more of the health teacher's lecture, which was on sexually transmitted diseases. She also heard the rather crude questions asked by several boys in her class about ways that one could _get _these diseases, and felt herself turn redder and redder and redder until she felt she might burst into flame. The fact that Eliwood was in her class, sitting several seats in front of her, just made everything even worse, because every once in a while some of those inappropriate suggestions would create… interesting mental pictures… that just made her blush even redder.

"And today," the teacher said, pulling out a banana and what Ninian feverishly hoped was just a balloon, "we are going to have a practical demonstration…"

_Please, Ninis, don't let this be what I think it's going to be…_

"…of how to use a condom."

And just when Ninian thought that she could not be any more embarrassed, she suddenly recalled the end of the dream she had had last night, the dream of the boy with red hair and blue eyes, the boy who had called her 'mama'…

Hadn't he looked an awful lot like Eliwood?

Maybe, if she prayed earnestly enough, the gods would let her melt through the floor. Or make the clock go at the right pace. There was no way she could only have been in class for ten minutes…

* * *

Nadia ignored the teacher. She didn't need to listen. She already knew everything she was saying anyway, and with Raven and Matthew and Leila in the class poor Miss Veinian had enough problems keeping the class under control. Farina was already taking bets on when the first fistfight would be. Nadia had put her money on February 15. By then, it would finally have sunk in for him that Priscilla had grown up over the summer and that boys were noticing her and that _she _was noticing them.

However, that wasn't what she was really thinking about. Nor was she putting any real work into the diagram on the desk, which was the master plan for pranking City Hall on Mischief Night.

She was worrying about that golden eyed man, the one who had almost recognized her. Even though he claimed to be a senior, and looked the part, there was something in his eyes that gave lie to the illusion.

And, he had seen her before she had met Lyn. Perhaps he had met her in one of the small towns she had passed through on her way to collapsing in that particular spot on the Plains of Sacae, but she sincerely doubted it, especially since he knew her real hair color. No, he had indeed seen the old her…

Which meant that hewas involved with the typeof societyshe had once lived in. Which could not mean anything good.

She would have to find a way to avoid him and watch him at the same time. She would not be recognized. She was too happy here to be forced to disappear again, and she would slit her own throat before she let her father take that away from her the way he had stolen everything else.

* * *

A tall, imposing man dressed in an extremely expensive business suit looked down on the table. There were currently three chess sets, each unique, each expensive, set upon the table. One was already swarmed with black pieces, that was a battle already won. In the center, the white was in retreat, most of the major pieces captured, including the queen, although the king had yet to move, as if the player did not yet realize the danger, regardless of the fact that the white forces had been reduced to pawns and little else. On the far left, only the opening moves had been made, that was a game he was playing slowly, for even though that white king was a fool, most of his advisors were not, and some of them were in position to become quite annoying the moment they became suspicious. And several of those pawns on the far left had the potential to become quite dangerous indeed…

And, on the center board, there were two unique pieces that were no part of any game of chess anywhere else. A woman, dressed like a dancer, and a boy holding a flute, hidden behind a few easily disposed of pawns. Although to any other chess player, these carvings would have no immediate value or significance, well, these weren't _actually _games of chess. They were representations of actual struggles, the beginnings of the steps to unlimited power… and revenge. Oh yes, revenge…

He removed something from one of the pockets of his suit, a small ivory figurine, the white queen from the center board. Very soon, it would be time to grind the person that the white Queen represented into powder, and the sooner the better. He really was getting bored of listening to the man's impassioned speeches.

A woman glided soundlessly into the room. To anyone else, she would have been both silent and without any presence at all, but he had been the one who had created her, he could always sense where she was.

"Master, your meeting will be in a half an hour," she said diffidently, although she had no actual emotions. She was a classical beauty, her face like a statue, her wavy hair still neat and stately, not wild like her 'sister's'. She dressed conservatively, her clothing no different from any other secretary who worked in this company, although of better quality. But Limstella was more than just his secretary, much more.

"Has the meeting room been prepared?"

"Of course."

Limstella… she had been one of his later morphs, not tainted with emotion like Kishuna or Sonia, or even Ephidel to a certain extent. No, Limstella was perfect. And whenever he looked at her, she almost reminded him of… someone. It was too frustrating to try and remember today, he had important things to do.

His hand tightened on the white queen in his hand. _Very _important things…

* * *

Hehheh… poor Ninian. I'm so evil sometimes. :)

So, you like? All the pretty reviews made me happy, so I worked a lot harder and updated a lot quicker than I thought I could.

I would like to thank peter, Sakura Irving, elven-girl 10, Vaun Harkinian, Ayane-san, and magebear7 for reviewing.


	3. Fourth Period

Squee! The goddamned document loader finally worked! Hooray!

Chapter Two: Fourth Period

Nils perked up as someone new came in and sat down next to him. This girl looked like a freshman, which was good. It would nice to have someone else 'his age' to talk to; his health class was mostly senior guys with a crude sense of humor.

"Hi!" she said brightly, although she looked exhausted. "I'm Nino Reed! I just moved in last weekend…"

"Thought you were new. I'm Nils, Nils Shiadan." He held out a hand and she shook it. He decided that he liked her, she was a bubbly, happy girl, but didn't seem like a babbler like Serra. "So, how are you liking things at Sir Roland High?" he managed to get the name out without snickering or glaring. It was kind of silly that the people of Ostia had named the city high school after the man who had founded their country, but he had to remember that the school had originally been a military academy, and still retained weapons and magical training classes, although such classes were no longer mandatory and most people didn't bother with them anymore.

She smiled again. "Oh, it's really nice here, I met a lot of helpful people who gave me directions when I got lost. This is my first time going to public school, I was actually kind of nervous."

"I know how you feel," Nils said sympathetically. "Before last year, my sister and I moved around a lot, and I never really lived in one place long enough to go to school. Last year was kind of a shocker for me, but you get used to it after a while. I'm still in remedial math, science, and writing classes for all the stuff I didn't learn on the road, it really bites," he groaned.

"Oh! You're in remedial math too?" she asked, looking relieved. "I've always been so terrible at math, my mother would always yell at me, but she never actually gave me help when I was stuck. I was afraid that I would be the only one in the class."

"Heh, we won't be the only ones there… just the only ones who can string together a coherent sentence. You might want to stick with me, some of the guys in that class are real lowlifes…" just then, the teacher walked in, and the class settled slightly. "Oh, and a word of warning, the unit we're on is sex ed. The language can get a bit… rougher than you're probably used to. So you might want to brace yourself."

"S-sex ed?" Nino asked, blushing already. Nils sighed inwardly, remembering how Ninian had come out of this very classroom at the end of first period, her skin almost the same shade of red as her eyes…

_No, probably better not to tell her that, _he decided. Maybe he could get her a pair of earplugs and take notes for both of them…

* * *

Lyn wanted to be somewhere else. It wasn't that she hated history, or even the subject that they were learning about, which was the tribes of her homeland, Sacae. She rather liked his stance on her people, that they were not barbarians because they were nomads, but fellow civilized human beings, with a unique culture and every bit as civilized as their fellow Elibeans.

It was that her teacher was handing out (shudder) group projects.

Lyn would have been more than happy to do a project on her own. Hell, she would probably do better by herself, she certainly knew more about the Sacae than anyone else in the classroom. Not for the first time since September, she bemoaned the evil luck that had kept Nadia out of her history class. She looked at the white slip of paper on her desk, and with a long-suffering sigh, turned it over and scanned the list until she found her own name

_Topic tribe: The Lorca _(Why, Mother Earth, why? Couldn't it have been the Kulotah? Or the Djute?)

_Presentation Partners: Jessica Brightly, Lyndis Caelin, and Christopher White _(Actually, I know why. It's because you hate me. Clearly you do. Fine then, I hate you too…)

_Tentative Presentation Date: Tuesday, November 17th _(Oh, and knowing those two slackers, they'll probably want to put it off until the weekend before, leaving me to do all the work… maybe this is better, I'll probably get a better grade this way…)

"And as a review, your job is to use what we've been learning about in class and the information that you gather on your own to put together a comprehensive, ten to fifteen minute presentation on your tribe, both historically and currently. If your tribe is no longer in existence, you must also provide a detailed explanation of what happened to them. And, before you ask Mr. White, since the Lorca were still a tribe until a year ago, you still have to do the current part of your presentation."

"Actually," said Christopher Open-Mouth-Insert-Foot White "I thought it would be really cool if we could do a re-enactment of the downfall of the Lorca! We never get to do anything fun in here…"

Red filmed Lyn's vision and for a moment the broken remnants of everything she'd owned and her parents' funeral pyres danced in front of her eyes, blotting out the classroom and everything else…

"_Lyn," _A memory of Nadia's voice cut through her rage, _"If you wish to live here in Lycia, you must remember that things are much different than your home. Peace is not a transient thing maintained only by the strength of your sword, it is their birthright, their inheritance, their very lives for many generations now. Things may be rocky with Eturia from time to time, relations may sour with Bern, but nothing ever comes to open warfare, and Lycians are untroubled by conflict to the point where violence is such an alien thing that it becomes… exotic. If you stay here, you may find the story of your people a point of gossip, a sensational story. Don't rise to the bait, remember that they do not… _cannot _understand devastation as you and I do. In fact, if you wish for peace, try not to flaunt your heritage… don't look at me like that, I'm not saying that you should lie! Just introduce yourself as Lyn Caelin, not Lyn of the Lorca, and let them draw their own conclusions. It will make your life much, much easier. Trust me in this…"_

And Lyn had swallowed her pride, as Nadia had suggested. This had also had the unexpected side effect of making her grandfather very happy, for by using his surname he saw it as a declaration that she would be staying with him for as long as he still breathed. Oh, she would tell the truth of her heritage if anyone should ask her, but until they did… well, that stopped her from having to tell curious people to go away, from having to live again the horror of that night and the days that followed it, as bright and innocent eyes looked eagerly on her, not realizing how much pain they were causing…

But did she really have to put up with this? She half-rose in her seat, itching to give White the beating he deserved…

"Oh, and that's your definition of _fun?_" snarled Jessica caustically, the very first time Lyn had ever heard her talk in class unless called on. "A whole bunch of innocent people getting slaughtered?"

"Not slaughtered, a fierce fight between the vicious bandits and the barbarian tribesmen…" Nine-hundred plus page paperback book impacted with skull at this point. Although the distance from the left side of the classroom to the right wasn't that great, the book was an ungainly projectile, flapping open when thrown, making the throw an impressive one nonetheless. Several people clapped and cheered, and one of the other girls snatched up the book before Christopher could mutilate it.

"Oh my, _terribly _sorry. You see, sometimes when people make an ill-advised joke, my hands just _slip…_"

"Enough!" the teacher shouted. "Detention, both of you!" And, under his breath he added, "And for the love of Elimine, not on the same day, I can already see that you want to kill each other…" at normal volume he returned to speaking to them again. "Now, if you would apologize to each other…"

"What did I do?" Chris whined.

"You made some extremely offensive, racist comments and you tried to destroy a classmate's property," Lyn snapped at him.

"What the hell did I do to you, Caelin?" he snapped, rounding on her.

"What _didn't _you do?" Lyn asked cryptically, enjoying the look of confusion on his face.

"Mr. White, would you like an extended detention? Because you seem to be asking for one…"

Lyn listened to her project partners tersely apologize to each other, and thought all the while about exactly how much 'fun' this project was going to be, and how the person who had invented the idea of the group project should be slowly roasted alive. At least she and Jessica should be able to beat Christopher into submission should he become too boorish, for all his talk he was wiry and klutzish, even if he was a head taller than Lyn, he clearly didn't know how to fight...

* * *

Fourth period was probably Hector's favorite period after weapons practice, it was study hall. Also, it was one of the few classes he had with Eliwood, which made it all the better.

Well, usually it did. For the last couple of days, Eliwood had been broody. And Hector was sick of seeing him like that. He wanted to know what was going on.

"Eliwood? Something on your mind?"

"Hmm?" the redhead asked, distracted and clearly off in his own little world. "Ah, sorry Hector. I wasn't paying attention."

"You've been, 'not paying attention' since Thursday. Something is wrong, and if you're not going to tell me, I'm going to start guessing. You _could _have failed a test or somesuch…"

"I'm not _you _Hector," Eliwood replied with a slight smirk. "_I _actually stay awake in class."

"You _could _be getting ready to ask Ninian out… say to Farina's Halloween party," Hector continued, choosing to ignore the previous comment.

"If I go to a party, I'll probably end up at the school dance. You know Farina, she'll charge admission, and for all the food, and anything else she can think of…"

"Not _this _year, Fiora's also planning. Which, sadly, means no more poker."

"Which you should be eternally grateful for, you're a terrible gambler."

"When Farina is playing, especially if she's dealing, _everyone _is a terrible gambler, Eliwood. The woman cheats like…" Hector's eyes narrowed. "You're changing the subject again. However, based on your answers, I now know what's wrong with you. Something's happened with your father."

Eliwood's calm façade crumpled into worry. "I… I didn't want to get you involved, you need to help out your brother, you need to be in school…"

"And you don't?" Hector snorted, incredulous. "He's missing, isn't he?"

"Mother hasn't heard anything from him in six months. And all this time I was naïve enough to think that he really was away on a business trip… I wouldn't even know if I hadn't accidentally overheard her talking on the phone with Lyn's grandfather, begging him for information, _any _information."

"So you were going to go looking for him? Alone?"

"I'm not _stupid. _I was going to ask Nadia to come with me, for starters..."

"Why that wimpy shaman and not me?" Hector shouted, springing out of his desk. Several people and the study hall monitor stared at them, and Hector sat down again, a faint blush of what he resolutely told himself was anger, never humiliation, spreading across his face.

"If there is a problem, Mister Ostia, I would be more than happy to move your seat," said the teacher in a tone better suited for dealing with preschoolers.

"Ah, no, just a slight disagreement…" They waited for a few minutes in stony silence until the class had turned its attention elsewhere.

"Because, not only is 'that wimpy shaman', perfectly capable of making up whatever school we miss, she's also a tactician. If this turns nasty, I could probably use the help. Besides, the only lead I have is Lord Helman, it's not like I'll be doing anything exciting right away," Eliwood continued quietly so none of the curious students trying to overhear their conversation would be able to catch his words.

"That old recluse?"

"According to what I overheard, Father's last communication came from Helman's provincial estate. Worst case, and sadly, most likely scenario, we take a week-long road trip, meet with Lord Helman, and find out nothing. If we do find something, things could get… interesting."

Hector smirked. "Either way, old man Marcus and Oswin are going to be fighting over who gets the right to skin our hides. Well, sounds like fun, count me in."

"But…"

"No one's going to notice if _I _go missing," Hector said bitterly. "I'm the screw-up, layabout younger brother. If I DID stick around while you went off on an adventure, people would wonder if I needed my head examined."

"You're not proud of that reputation, are you?"

"Not in the slightest..."

* * *

Ninian felt a chill somewhere within her soul. She tried to ignore it and pay attention to her language arts teacher, but it is hard to ignore what you know to be true.

Something had just happened, something had been set into motion. Even though she was stripped of most of her powers, she could still sense something as monumental as _that_. And, at the edges of her vision, she could see a soon dead man pleading with her for something…

So, when the teacher decided to quiz them at the end of the period, it was no wonder that she failed spectacularly.

* * *

Nergal smiled as he left the small, cramped room that his 'guest' was staying in, playing idly with the white queen as he did so. The white queen was like the key, a bitterly ironic key, since the queen was supposed to be the most powerful piece on the chessboard, the most powerful piece set against the black king. Now, all he needed was one of the two people who could use that key to its full effectiveness. And some more power for what must be done.

"Limstella."

"I am here my lord," she said emotionlessly. Limstella was always there when he needed her. That was what made her better than, say… a human wife

Wife? Now where had _that _come from? Some shred of his time before he had met Athos? Perhaps. His early years were lost in a fog of dark magic, a pittance to pay for the power he now wielded.

"I want you to contact Ephidel. Tell him it is time to move on the white king, and that I need at least one of the siblings in hand by the end of the week."

"As you command," she replied, bowing with an inhuman grace and gliding soundlessly out of sight around the edge ofthe corridor.

* * *

Oh come on, the health class scene was too good not to re-use. Maybe I'll have them do CPR too… Eliwood and Ninian as CPR partners… fun ideas…

By the way, anyone want Nino to go to Jaffar about her… health class experience? I think that would be a hilarious conversation, don't you?

Thanks to magebear7, Black Hole CO, elven-girl 10, Gijinka Renamon, peter, Vaun Harkinian, N Master,and Sakura Irving for reviewing!


	4. Sixth Period

Before you read the rest of this... UGH, this was hard to write! The only bit I really like is the very first section, which is more Nino and Nils interaction.

* * *

Chapter Three: Sixth Period

Nino came to a quick conclusion: Remedial math was very, very boring. Even she wasn't _quite _this bad; maybe if she could get one of her brothers to help her, she could test out by Christmas…

Nils was the only thing that kept her awake. Whenever the teacher turned around to write on the chalkboard, he would mime talking along with him, along with the funniest faces she'd seen in a while. Several people, including Nino, chuckled when he did this, but whenever the teacher turned around, Nils would be sitting diligently copying from the board, practically radiating innocence. About halfway through the period, Nils got bored of doing this, and started making paper airplanes out of blank notebook paper, which touched off a contest around the room, to see who could make the fastest, the coolest. Soon they sported drawings, insults, some profanity, and Nino found herself joining in. And they were all having a fine time when the teacher's back was turned, until someone threw theirs directly at the teacher, knocking off his wig. He stared, no, glared, and spluttered in rage, scooping up his wig and putting it on (lopsided) before _demanding _to know who had thrown 'that _thing_' while shaking the piece of paper at them like a drawn sword. One of the more annoying boys, a guy with sandy brown hair, beady little eyes, and a bulbous nose who was sitting near the back claimed that Nino had thrown the paper airplane.

The teacher rounded on her. He didn't look comical, now he looked _scary_.

"And _what _do you have to say for yourself, young lady?"

"I…" Really, she couldn't think of anything. She didn't know who had really thrown that airplane, didn't think that she could have said anything even if she did remember. All that she could think about was how disappointed her mother was going to be when she heard about this. "I..."

"I threw it!" Nils said cheerily, with an innocent smile. The teacher was so stunned that he just stared, stupidly, for several minutes. Apparently, he had not been expecting a confession.

"Hey, look!" said someone else. "The squirt freshman has a girl- GAAH!" the teen who had been talking leaped out of his seat. "Cold!"

After a few more moments of pandemonium and leaping around, a now very small ice cube was extracted from the boy's shirt. Since the person behind him hadn't been leaning in his direction, and an ice cube couldn't have stayed cold for so long, no one could figure out how it had gotten there in the first place, although Nils did have a small, smug smile.

Nino blinked. Had Nils done that? Without a spellbook or an incantation? But that was impossible!

But if _she _could get him to show her how to do that, would her mother would look at her and smile for once?

Maybe she didn't need to transfer out… after all, math had never figured prominently in any of Linus or Lloyd's stories of fighting evil.

* * *

Lyn stared at Nadia's lunch; three bags of chips, a packet of Skittles, and a bottle of Mountain Dew Code Red. "Remind me to stay away from you in gym class," was all she had to say to her friend's choice of lunch.

"Feh. It was either this, or eat the slop that they're passing off as food. And if I must eat out of the vending machines, why not eat whatever I want?" To prove her point, she pointed over at a nearby table, where everyone had trays of… well, it did look an awful lot like cat vomit, but she was pretty sure that it was supposed to be spaghetti and meatballs…

"Ugh. I'm going to hit the vending machines. Could you find chairs for Eliwood and Hector and Ninian?"

"Can do," Nadia said with a smug grin, tossing their backpacks on their chairs so no one would take them and then going off to hunt down three more.

When Lyn came back five minutes later (stupid machine had eaten her money, all she wanted was water, was that really so hard to get?) Nadia, Ninian, Eliwood, and Hector were already arguing about something, but it looked like Ninian and Nadia had proven their point, and the two boys were starting to back down.

"Okay," Nadia sighed, stretching in an almost catlike manner. "So we have Ninian, myself, Hector and Eliwood. Small enough not to attract attention, and with Ninian's help we should be able to avoid any… unpleasantness." She rubbed her temples. "And hopefully I'll be able to get us out of anything we _do _run into… Mother Earth, I can already feel my headache coming on…"

"Are you sure that's not just the sugar getting to you?" Hector teased.

Nadia smirked, and the bottle of soda started to glow an eerie purple-black and pointed itself at Hector. "Care to retract that statement?"

"What's that going to do if I don't?"

"Spew soda all over you."

"Hmm…" Hector pretended to think hard.

"I say soak him," Lyn added. Everyone suddenly started

"Eh heh… Hey Lyn!" Hector said.

"Don't you 'Hey, Lyn!' me! You're all planning something, and I want to know what!"

Eliwood… _Eliwood! This is HIS idea, and he won't tell me! _sighed, and started to explain…

Once he was done, and Nadia had thrown in her veiled warnings about her grandfather's health, even Lyn had to agree that she had best stay behind… for the moment.

"Could you look after Nils for me?" Ninian asked hesitantly. "I… I don't want him to miss any school. Gods only know how he managed to make it to high school, he has _no _work ethic at all, and he won't make up anything he misses."

"I promise I'll keep an eye on him," Lyn swore. Conversation gradually turned to less morbid topics as Nadia started teasing both her and Hector, while they both retaliated in kind.

* * *

Leila was looking at Ephidel with something akin to shock. "I'm sorry, could you run that by me again? You want me to…"

"Free the ex-Lord Lundgren from prison. I assume you have objections?"

_Of course I do! The man's a greedy snake who would turn on his own family! _"I find someone who poisoned his own brother to be untrustworthy. Can we really believe that he'll remain loyal to us, and not sell us out to the Lycian Greater Council should it become advantageous for him?"

"Oh, but would they offer him a second chance to become Marquis of Caelin? I doubt it. However, your objections are noted, Leila." He actually smiled at her. "I'll be sure to watch him closely."

Leila bowed. "I hear and obey. Is there anything that should be tended to immediately, or should I return to class?"

"Hmm… do you… what do teenagers call it? 'Cut' often?"

Leila smirked. "But of course. It makes a good smokescreen for… when I have something important to do. Do you have any further orders, Master Ephidel?" Not 'Lord' Ephidel, although he was certainly arrogant enough for it. Oh no, only Nergal was 'Lord'.

"No. But keep an eye on Sonia's brat if you can. If I could make the little worthless child useful somehow it would certainly take that miserable, conceited witch down a peg. And keep an eye out for the children, of course."

"Of course." To tell him, or not to tell him? No, she had no choice not to tell him, he was going to find out eventually anyway, neither of them made any effort to hide it. "Actually, the girl Ninian is closely associated with, possibly dating Lord Elbert's son. Her brother also attends this school. However, removing them could be difficult. Witnesses everywhere…"

Ephidel's eyes widened. "Really? Why… how deliciously ironic, Leila." He smirked as only she had seen him do so, an annoyingly mysterious smirk that revealed nothing but his smug satisfaction. "Deliciously ironic indeed… you've always done well, Leila… I look forward to watching you."

There were worlds of meaning in that last sentence, and not just the sexual one, which he made all too obvious by delicately arching one of his perfect eyebrows. But he was watching her performance as well. She was going to have to be extremely careful in the future.

Lunch and sixth period drew to a close, and the five friends departed from the lunchroom. However, as she was leaving, Lyn noticed that a piece of notebook paper had fluttered out of Nadia's bag and fallen to the floor. She called to her friend, but Nadia was already out of hearing range. With a sigh, Lyn tugged on her ponytail, and decided to look and see if the slip of paper was anything important.

It was a list.

_-_

_Ephidel_

_Vladimir Nagaria_

_-_

_Lord Elbert's disappearance_

_Unrest in the Laus province_

_Unrest in Bern_

_-_

_The Black Fang – _(something had made the rest of the line illegible, Lyn couldn't read it.)

_Nils and Ninian_

_-_

_Connected?_

It seemed like an utterly disordered list, and Lyn almost threw it away. However, on reflection, Nadia's thought processes were odd enough, but usually came to important answers. Lyn folded the paper into quarters, then eights, and shoved it in her pocket so she could ask her friend what was going through that head of hers later on. Some of the things on that list were disturbing, and she thought that she had heard of the Black Fang from… somewhere...

* * *

Before I conclude this chapter, let me give an explanation as to why, in my twisted little alternate universe, Lundgren isn't well and deservedly dead.

First of all, think about it, this is more or less modern times. You can't just go around bumping people off in a modern society without there being some sort of inquiry. So, to make her assimilation into Lycian society as painless as possible, Nadia had several long discussions (shouting matches) with Lyn, and convinced her that she should let the courts deal with Lundgren. So now he's rotting away in a jail cell until the Black Fang busts him out or he expires… whichever comes first.

Does anyone want me to do a modern Lyn's story as a prologue to this? I think it would be… amusing.

Sorry there was such a gap between chapters… I got stuck on the first cafeteria scene, and I think that the rest of the chapter reflects that. (Curses writer's block to the lowest hells) Next chapter is weapons/magic practice, and study hall for Nils and Ninian. I hope it'll be easier to write.

Thanks to Sakura Irving, elven-girl10, Error404WriterNotFound (Mind if I just call you Error for short?), asarin, magebear7, Fullmetal Child, Dark Cherubim, Random Person, and peter for reviewing! Enjoy the chapter!


	5. Ninth Period

Yes, I update. I lnow, it's been a while… writer's block and new video games tend to hinder my productivity. Oh, and let's not forget finals. And final papers.

Whee.

Chapter Four: Ninth Period

Last period. A period in which teenagers one and all usually zone out, their brains going to after-school activities, thoughts of sports or dreams of sleep as their instructors try in vain to reign them back in…

Lyn once again ducked under Hector's blunted practice axe. She knew from long experience that if she tried to parry, she would succeed in nothing but numbing her arms for the effort and might lose her weapon. Already, she'd been forced to parry once, and both her arms still hurt from the impact, although she'd been able to shake the deadness from her limbs after blocking the hit. And she'd kept her katana. For about half of last year, whenever she'd parried him he'd knocked her sword out of her hands by sheer force. So she was getting stronger, at the very least. _At least he doesn't hold back on me because I'm a _girl. _Chivalry is all well and good, but I am a fellow warrior, and I expect to be treated as such._

But, damnit, Hector was going to leave for a couple days this afternoon, and she was going to win one before he left!

She pushed forward with the thrust patterns that Karel had shown her (the man was creepy, and entirely too interested in her and her fighting style, but he knew swordcraft) and finally, after what seemed more like a complicated dance than fighting, her dull practice katana struck the flesh between armor plates on Hector's axe arm.

"Point to Lyndis," Karel said, ignoring the cheering and groans (it seemed that they'd gained an audience somewhere along the line…). "Pay more attention to defense, boy. Armor is well and good, but it has weaknesses. If these were real weapons, you probably would have lost an arm. And you, Lyndis. More exercises for your upper arms. You did well, but you still lost feeling in your arms when you blocked that hit in the opening exchange. In a real battle, with more than one opponent, you would not have had breathing time to recover from that."

Both Lyn and Hector murmured their thanks, and even though she had been sent to strengthening exercises for what would probably be the rest of the period, hearing praise from Karel almost made everything worthwhile.

Hector came up to her, rubbing his shoulder. "Good match," he said, grinning, holding out his uninjured hand.

"You too," she replied, taking it and shaking it, smiling back. Hector was a great deal larger than her, and surprisingly fast for hisbuild and the weight of his armor. It wasn't every day that she got a win off of him, but since Karel had started coaching her in those new lunging patterns, the score was inching up towards 50/50…

So she went across the room to the weights and watched everyone else practice. Eliwood and Hector seemed especially focused today, although considering what they were planning, maybe that was unsurprising…

_Okay, now you're thinking like Nadia. They're just going to see Lord Helman. They'll be gone for a day or two, and probably nothing will come of it. They'll be back in time for the Halloween party._

And Fiora and Farina's Halloween party was going to be great this year. Since Halloween was a Saturday this year,she had offered to let themhave it at Castle Caelin. Since Caelin bordered with Ostia, and both capitals of the provinces were surprisingly close to the borders, the ride would be two or three hours, nothing too strenuous for a weekend. She already had her grandfather's permission, and the castle was being decorated accordingly.

Lyn's smile was only slightly marred by her worry that three of her closest friends wouldn't be there to enjoy it with her.

Eliwood had won his bout with Hector, and now they were changing partners again. Eliwood was squaring off against Lowen, and Hector…

"Raven," Karel said in that emotionless tone of his. "Come. Since you were so eager to start picking up the axe, perhaps you would benefit from fighting against someone who specializes in it…"

Lyn swallowed. Why would Karel pit Raven against Hector, for whom he had expressed his clear loathing on several occasions? Unless…

…unless Karel was having one of his bad days. He seemed to be having them more often since Harken had gone off with Lord Elbert, and had stopped teaching the class with him. Of course, that was probably because now that there was no other teacher in the class with them, Karel felt less inclined to control himself.

Lyn glided over to Wil and pulled him aside, "Go get the nurse, one of the ones that can use healing magic if you can manage it. We're probably going to need her."

Wil's eyes widened. "You don't think Senior Raven would…" Lyn shot him a look, and he swallowed his sentence, continuing instead with a weaker, "Ah… I mean… surely Karel would stop them before…?"

"If he's letting them fight, he'll let them injure each other. Didn't you hear him when he suggested axes for both of them? He's already been needling Raven, and we both know that Hector won't hold back if Raven starts fighting for real. They're really going to hurt each other, and having a trained healer on hand would be… beneficial. Unless you'd like a repeat of the last time they got into a fight? Actually, this time'll be worse, last time they only had their fists…"

"All right, I understand! I'm going! Coming, Rebecca?" he asked his girlfriend.

"Um… I think I want to stay," said Rebecca. "Besides, only one of us needs to go, and Karel might notice if we both disappear."

"Okay… if you say so…" Wil left, looking slightly put out.

"Um… something going on between you two?" Lyn asked.

Rebecca snorted. "I think I want to break up with him. Now that I've finally been able to move out of that little hamlet in Pherae, I sort of want to… branch out, you know?"

"Mmm," Lyn replied, not really paying full attention, instead watching as Raven and Hector circled each other, axes brandished. If that lummox managed to get himself seriously hurt...

"I mean, he got to travel around alone for a whole year, I bet he met loads of pretty girls when he did. I want to get that chance too. Not to meet pretty girls, of course, but you know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Yeah," Lyn replied. Hector ducked a roundhouse blow that probably would have given him a concussion if it had hit, looking pissed.

"What the hell are you doing, Raven?"

"What's wrong, Hector? Scared?"

"I hate being right," Lyn groaned. "I really hate being right."

"You sound like that girl you hang out with," Rebecca said, making a face. "The one who wears that green windbreaker all the time."

"Nadia?"

"Yeah, her." They turned back to the fight, Lyn trying not to bite her lip and Rebecca looking increasingly interested. "Hey, I didn't know Raven was so good. He's actually holding his own against Hector."

Lyn looked askance at the archer. Rebecca's expression could only be described as… dreamy.

"Rebecca… you don't have a _crush _on Raven. Please tell me you don't."

"Of course I don't, I'm going out with Wil. For the moment. However, that doesn't mean I can't look at other guys. And you have to admit he's handsome…"

"Yeah, if you like the ones who need anger management."

"What's wrong with you, Lyn? It's not like they're really fighting!"

Lyn snorted. "Oh, really?" she asked as Hector managed to disarm Raven. Whereas normally the sparing would have ended here, Karel said nothing as Raven kicked at Hector, nearly hitting the blue-haired boy in the place that no male ever wants to be hit. As Hector jumped backward to avoid this, Raven scrambled for his weapon. Eliwood motioned for Lowen to stop and strode angrily over to their teacher, opening his mouth to protest…

"Don't bother, Pherae. Why don't we let them get a taste of what things would be like if I wasn't here to baby the lot of you all the time?"

"Okay, so they are really fighting," Rebecca conceded. Lyn allowed herself a fleeting smirk, and then went back to being worried about Hector. Raven had already tried one dirty trick. Who was to say he wouldn't try anything else?

"Oh, by the way, did you hear the rumors?" Rebecca asked.

"What rumors?"

"I heard that Hector and Eliwood had an argument in fourth period, and now there's all these wild stories flying around. Apparently, Nadia was mentioned, and there are some people saying that she's with either Eliwood or Hector and that the other one's jealous. There was this one really wild story I heard that said that Hector declared his undying love for Eliwood and that Eliwood turned him down for Nadia." Lyn snorted and doubled over, trying very hard not to laugh. "Yeah, that's what all the people that person told did. One of them was drinking a soda and it shot out of his nose, he was laughing so hard."

"That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard," Lyn giggled. "It sounds like the plot of a bad romance novel… not to mention the fact that… _Nadia?_ Neither of them have even looked at Nadia twice, and it's so obvious that Ninian and Eliwood are going to go out at some point…" her laughter died as she looked back at Hector and Raven's duel, as Hector just barely stopped a strike that was aimed straight at his head. _This… is not going to end well…

* * *

_

"Nils… I'm going out of town for a few days."

There. That hadn't been so hard to say, had it? She'd only been worrying about how to say it since she and Nadia had convinced Eliwood that it was important for her to come along. Although, what she had had scripted in the back of her mind was a bit more… _subtle _than that had come out sounding.

Nils blinked. "Where? Why? You're the one who wanted to stay so… wait a minute. Why am I not going with you!"

"Because I'll be coming back in a few days, and you're dropping farther and farther behind in your schoolwork!"

"So? It's not like I care about school anyway!"

"Oh? And who was just complaining about when he asked a question in history about the end of The Scouring and had someone complain loudly about how he had 'spoiled the ending'?"

"Oh, and this little trip of yours has nothing to do with _Lord _Eliwood, does it?" he countered sarcastically. When Ninian blushed, he pressed his point home, "It is! You care more about that… that…"

"For your information," Ninian interrupted coldly, finding her voice. "Eliwood's father is missing. I'm going to see if I can sense anything useful."

Nils almost visibly deflated. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, Nils. But we… _I_… owe him."

"But why can't I…"

"Because… if something _does _happen, I want you to be safe." She gave him a quick hug, and then an elder sisterly glare. "Now _do your homework._ That is an… interesting doodle, but I doubt it has anything to do with math."

"Fine, fine…"

* * *

"Master, Illyse has come in from the Talvier Mountains… shall I send her in, or do you wish to see her later?" Limstella asked diffidently. 

"Send her in now," Nergal sighed. "If I am to open the Dragon's Gate, I shall need all the quintessence I can muster."

"As you will," Limstella replied, hitting the button to open the door. After a faint buzzing sound, a woman with dark navy, almost black hair glided into the room. She wore the old-fashioned robes of a druid, including a sack slung across her back carrying her tomes. There was a golden Rescue staff tucked into her belt, with one of the three focus jewels darkened, indicating that it had been used once. She was quite beautiful, with fine, vaguely Illian features, and a silent grace. The only thing that betrayed her semblance of humanity was her golden eyes. She was a morph… and yet, she wasn't.

For, unlike Limstella and Ephidel, Illyse had once been human – a result of his dabbling in necromancy. Since she had once had independent will, it was more difficult to control her than his other morphs, which was why he had sent her to the Talvier Mountains… it was harder for her to cause trouble there, and at the same time, she provided a valuable service: harvesting mass amounts of quintessence without arousing public suspicion. _At least I learned my lesson about bringing back the soul as well as the body. Amusing though it is to have a former enemy in this condition, completely striping away the will for more than a few hours at a time is more trouble than it's worth. Better to just recreate the body, should I want this effect again. It wouldn't be too hard, all I would need is the quintessence of the person I wished to 'resurrect'. This method is so much more tedious…_

"Milord," Illyse said mechanically, with just a hint of what might have been sarcasm. She curtsied respectfully enough, and held up her hands. Pure white energy suddenly blazed into existence and crackled around her body like a halo. He touched her head (It still irked him that he hadn't found a way around the physical contact) and the energy flowed into him, the brightness and radiance of hundreds of stolen lives.

"Have you had any luck cornering another of the Sacaean clans?" he asked her.

"No, Milord. After what befell the Lorca, the other smaller clans have avoided the area like the plague, and the Talvier are too few and too stupid to challenge one of the greater clans like the Kulotah or the Djute. If the raiding range were to be broadened…" she bit her tongue and scowled, furious at herself.

"Continue," he said, putting just a trickle of the power that she had just given him into the command.

"If the raiding range were to be broadened, perhaps another tribe could be captured. However, the Kulotah are already furious, and destroying another tribe might give them enough outrage to get the tribes to band together against the Talvier, wiping out the bandit clan," she said in a tone that indicated that every word was being dragged out of her against her will.

"See, Illyse? And when I first resurrected you, you said that I was 'wasting my time'. After all those years living with a household of career tacticians, I knew you would have managed to pick up _something_," he told her in a patronizing tone, as a master to a particularly clever dog that had just performed a new trick.

"I am glad to be of use, milord," she replied, ducking her head in another deep curtsy. He knew that she was just using this to hide her grimace, although he didn't mind that much as long as she kept her emotions to herself. She was a useful tool… for the moment. If his plans for Lycia succeeded, well… Once he had a new steady supply of quintessence, there would be no further need for her, aside from removing a certain man in Bern who was in position to become an annoyance…

"Provoke one of the smaller clans into your territory. Kidnap some of their womenfolk or children, whatever you think will best enrage them so that they come immediately without summoning help, and eliminate every last one of them. Once you've done that, bring their quintessence to me immediately."

"Understood." She curtsied and left without another word, knowing a dismissal when she heard one. That was an upside of Illyse and the more intelligent morphs. No need to spell out every little detail.

* * *

Nadia sighed, sending a wave of little Luna balls at her target. Six balls of dark magic converged upon the target, causing a small whirling explosion of dark magic, effectively obliterating the target. Luna was one of the more interesting dark magic spells, bypassing all barriers and natural resistance to strike directly at the target's core. Hence, it was a favorite of shamans and druids when they went into combat with enemy magic users, especially those who used light magic. The Luna spell was the one that always came easiest to her, even though technically it was a more difficult spell to master than Flux, which was the basic dark magic spell. (Or, as Canas would say, _elder _magic. 'Dark magic is a term only used by the prejudiced and the uneducated, neither of which, I hope, applies to any of my students'.) Out of boredom, she directed the next set to each hit a different target. Six little balls of Luna punched neatly through the center of each target. Since they didn't come together, the power of the spell decreased significantly, but if it cut straight through, say, an opponent's heart, that wouldn't matter very much in the long run. She was actually rather pleased with herself. The deviation was working more and more often now, she was getting much better. Although, maybe that was because since she had chosen to give up on her revenge, her mind was less cluttered… 

"That's supposed to be impossible," commented Erk, looking over at her work. "I don't know much about dark magic, but isn't it the nature of those orbs to gravitate together?"

"Actually, the whole spell is more about willpower than anything… most dark magic is, unlike Anima, which is strictly governed by a rigid set of laws, or light magic, which takes form mostly based on extremely strong emotions, like faith or love. It takes willpower to focus the orbs… you can tell if someone's a novice if they get large Luna orbs, the smaller they are, the more contained the power is and it does more damage when released…"

"It also takes a strong will to direct the orbs. If you don't have one, they're just as likely to hit you as they are to hit the target," Canas added, suddenly joining the conversation as he often did whenever his students started discussing magic on their own. That was one of the great things about having Canas as a teacher, he encouraged his students to think and form their own opinions, even if they didn't coincide with his own. "Elder magic takes a fine mix of will and control. That's one of several reasons that there are so few Druids."

"So, what Nadia did is something that any Druid could do?" Erk asked, impressed.

"Yes, although it's rare to see the talent in someone so young. Most elder magic practitioners have to train at least ten years or so before they can start doing things like that… if they're lucky."

"I'm not that special, then," Nadia said, trying not to blush under the praise. She was largely self-taught in the area of her own magic, having lost her teacher at a very young age. "I started learning the runes when I started to read, and I've been using da… elder magic since I was ten or eleven. Besides, normally when I try to deviate from the original course of the spell, some of them hit me too. I've really improved a lot in the last year or so."

Canas looked at her in that all-knowing manner of his that always made her feel a little nervous. "This might be a rather personal question, Miss Saharin, but are you self-taught?"

"Um, my mother taught me, but she was killed in an accident when I was six. I've been learning using the texts only since then. You're the first real teacher I've had in over ten years," she said, figuring that Canas knew too much for her to get away with lying to him.

Erk blinked, clearly surprised, and Canas paled. "You're very lucky to be alive, Miss Saharin. I'm not sure you understand exactly how dangerous–"

"Ooops!" Priscilla said.

Of the many, many things that could be heard while practicing with volatile magics, 'ooops' is generally near the bottom of anyone's list. The hairs on the back of Nadia's neck prickled, and her hair started to lift away from her body…

"Down, you fool!" Erk said, knocking her to the ground, just in time for them both to be struck by Priscilla's miscast Thunder spell…

* * *

I know, I know, I die around finals time, I resurrect myself midway into summer, and I leave you with that cliffhanger? Yes, well I am rather fond of all my body parts where they are, thank you, but if you must remove some… take my legs. I only need them for DDR… 

Okay, and now here's the part where I clear up things for the chapter.

First of all, about Illyse, the Talvier, and the Lorca... after I played the game through a couple of times, my conspiracy theroy side sort of found it to be convienent. Here we have this group of bandits that slaughteres everyone, instead of carrying off the women and killing off everyone else. I sort of thought that Nergal might find a use in that much quintessence being thrown to the winds... especially in my more peaceful, modern Elibe. As for Illyse herself... there's a story there. (evil laughter)

Also, about those rumors Rebecca overheard… do you remember the argument that Eliwood and Hector had in study hall around the second chapter or so? Well, when I was looking over the old stuff I read the one line that Hector shouted to the room, and I realized exactly how many ways that that could be taken when pulled out of context, and I just HAD to do something with it.

Yes, I am evil incarnate. Thank you very much.

Grace the poor procrastinator with a review?


End file.
